Lauderdale Commission On Side Of 55-foot Drawbridge

FORT LAUDERDALE - — The long-running debate about what to build at the busy 17th Street Causeway tilted again Tuesday night on the side of a new drawbridge.

After more than two hours of listening to residents vent their frustration about bridge breakdowns and traffic tieups on the beach, the City Commission left its support with a new 55-foot drawbridge, scheduled to open across the Intracoastal Waterway in the year 2000.

About two dozen residents attended a hearing to ask the city and the state to abandon plans for another drawbridge. Instead, they favor a tunnel or a tall fixed bridge. Others voiced their support for a new drawbridge.

"We are going backward, into the dark ages," said Burt Schiffer, a Fort Lauderdale resident who supports a fixed bridge. "Nobody is building drawbridges anymore. We are building a new bridge that will be out-of-date from the day it opens. We are doing everything we can to encourage more and more people to come to the beach. But there's no way to accommodate those people."

After years of controversy and opposition from Harbor Beach residents, the state Department of Transportation last year dropped plans for a tunnel or 85-foot fixed bridge. The residents joined forces with the city's marine businesses in fighting a tall fixed bridge, which would block the tallest sailing vessels from crossing.

The new drawbridge - which will be 30 feet taller than the existing bridge and reduce weekday and Saturday openings by 48 percent - was selected as a compromise. Design work on the new bridge is 30 percent complete.

But the debate has reopened in recent months as traffic worsens near the beach and after a string of bridge breakdowns. The 40-year-old bridge is near the end of a $1 million repair project.

"The real concern here is traffic," said City Commissioner Jack Latona, who said a fixed bridge will not solve traffic problems.